The
annual E3 video game expo was held last month and there were some
impressive new unveilings. Among the notable products was the Kinect
accessory for the Xbox 360 that turns the player into a motion
controller. A number of new video games were also unveiled.

One
of the most important of the hardware devices unveiled at the show
was the new redesigned
Xbox 360, which was quickly dubbed the Xbox 360 Slim by many. The
new Xbox 360 added in a new thinner profile, more storage with a
250GB HDD, five USB ports, and built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi. The console
carries the same $299 price tag as the older fat machine.

The
redesign and new features have spurred sales of the new Xbox 360,
just as Microsoft undoubtedly hoped. According to the latest
figures from NPD Group for the gaming market in June 2010,
the Xbox 360 surpassed the Wii in sales for June taking it to the
number one spot for consoles, not counting portables.

If
sales of portable systems are figured in, the Nintendo DS still
dominated the console market. NPD shows that console hardware sales
grew by about 35% compared to June of 2009. However, the market for
gaming as a whole declined thanks to reduced gaming software sales
compared to June of 2009.

NPD predicts that interest in the
PlayStation Move and Microsoft Kinect accessories will spur hardware
sales. The new Xbox 360 sold 451,700 units for the month, the Wii
sold 422,000 units, and the PS3 moved 304,800 units. The Nintendo DS
sold 510,700 units and the PSP sold 121,000 during June.

"It looks like the iPhone 4 might be their Vista, and I'm okay with that." -- Microsoft COO Kevin Turner